Mechatronics Systems

with Matt Nowinski,
The Boeing Co, George Mason U., & U. of Chicago
Thursday, March 31, 9:00 – 10:00AM
310 Kelly Hall and virtual

Mechatronics is a buzz word used to describe a multidisciplinary field combining mechanics, electronics, and computing. Mechatronic systems are ubiquitous in essentially all of the industries supported by mechanical engineers. But what exactly is a mechatronic system? What are its advantages (and disadvantages)? What basic design principle facilitates the use of mechatronic systems in such a wide range of engineering applications? In this lecture, we will address these questions using examples, analogies, and practical demonstrations.

Matt Nowinski is currently a systems engineer at The Boeing Company in Herndon, VA. He is also an adjunct professor at George Mason University in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Department of Physics and Astronomy. In addition, he serves as a support astronomer for the University of Chicago’s Stone Edge Observatory in Sonoma, CA. Matt has a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering (1999) from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL) in Lausanne, Switzerland with a research focus on aeroelastic phenomena in gas turbine engines. Prior to this, Matt completed a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering (1991) and a M.S. in Mechanical Engineering (1993) at Virginia Tech. In 2017, in lieu of buying a sports car, Matt returned to academics and obtained a M.S. in Space Studies from the University of North Dakota with a research focus on asteroid photometry and spectroscopy.

Host: Robin Ott